Betrayal
by Em Fargo
Summary: HEY GUYS, I ACTUALLY POSTED THE ENDING AFTER LIKE A DECADE. The only person Gaia could always trust has just betrayed her. Don't bash 'till you've read the end.
1. Chapter 1

Hey… I don't really know which demographic is going to like this story, but I can't say without giving away the ending… I promise a happy ending… for some. I'm sorry if this seems OOC at all, but this scenario wouldn't stop playing in my head until I gave it a satisfactory ending… Actually, that didn't work either. That's why I had to write it down. Oh, and if Gaia seems OOC, it's because I don't know much about how she'd act if she felt fear, so this is how I think she'd act. PLEASE don't judge it until you get to the end. It ends happily… well, not for everyone. But at least one person ends up happy, maybe more, I'm not TELLING, it's a SECRET which I will take to my GRAVE1!

The set-up for this… well, the situation in which it starts… There's not really a book into which this story could be interjected… I doubt whether the circumstances for this story ever take place, so I'll just tell you, they're as follows:

Gaia has fear now, so now she's carrying a gun around. (my idea)

Ed just got out of a coma and now they're together (the reasons for this are a whooole other story)

Sam's around, but not competing with Ed.

Ed has accepted that being with Gaia will probably lead to his own premature demise.

At any rate, I have read up to about 31, but I hope not to have spoilers. So here we go.

Oh wait, Disclaimer! I don't own Fearless. I don't own Gaia or Ed or anyone else I mention unless specifically noted, which I don't think I shall. In fact, if I had my own way, I wouldn't even know who they were. But it's too late, and I'm obsessed, so read the product of my obsession, and feel free to flame if you can be productive about it.

"Are you _sure_ you don't want me to walk you home?" Gaia checked.

"No, one of us is going to have to walk home alone, and you're in more danger than I am. _I'll_ walk _you_ home."

"But I have…" she gestured toward her pocket, where the cold metal of her .45 had been comforting her while they'd been out.

"Err… yeah… I keep trying to forget that."

"Sorry."

"I'll be careful."

Gaia sighed. "Fine." They walked to the place where Gaia was currently staying **(no spoilers, remember!)** and kissed goodbye. "Call me when you get home, so I know you're alright, 'kay?" she prodded nervously.

"Yes, Mom."

Gaia hit him lightly on the arm. "Seriously, Ed."

"OK."

"I love you."

"I love you, too." They kissed one more time, and she waved goodbye and went in.

She went into her room and put the TV on to keep her company while she waited for Ed to call. When she woke up the next morning, some crappy morning show was on… and so was the TV. Ed had never called.

That wasn't necessarily a big deal. There were a lot of reasons for a guy not to call, right? Wasn't that one of the things normal girls were always going on about? Guys didn't call? She didn't want to call him this early in the morning… she'd sound desperate, and anyway she might wake him. She'd see him at school. She ran through all her morning preparations and hightailed it to school. She waited near the doors, carrying some book she'd grabbed on her way so she didn't look stupid standing near the door. What if he didn't show up? What if something had happened to him on the way home? There he was! He looked almost surprised to see her. Not _happy_ to see her. She curbed her relief. Should she mention it? She had to. He couldn't just _not_ call when there was every possibility he was _dead_ or _worse_… wait, worse? That didn't make sense…

"Hey Ed…" She didn't quite know what to say, so she just said it. "You didn't call last night."

"Oh yeah," he said distractedly. "I guess I just forgot…"

She tried not to be hurt and looked more closely at him. "Is something wrong?"

"No," he snapped. "I'm fine."

"Jesus, Ed, don't blow a gasket."

"I'm sorry, I just—" He broke off. "Nevermind. I'm going to class. Bye."

OK, what the _hell_? What was _that_? Every possible emotion battled in her head until she'd decided on anger. She knew anger well enough, it was like an old friend. She went through class fuming until lunch. She found a nice table, _alone_.

After a few minutes, Ed sat across from her. Oh, right, he thought he could just waltz right up to her like nothing had ever happened! She greeted him with stony silence.

"I'm sorry." He said. "I don't know what all that was earlier, but I was hoping I could make it up to you. Later? I have something I want to show you." Silence. "Gaia?" Nothing. "I don't want to do this… but you've forced me." He made his idea of a puppy-dog face.

Gaia had to laugh. He looked like a total moron. "Oh, fine. But you'd better do some _serious_ up-making."

"I will. I hope I can make up enough."

"Oh, you weren't _that_ horrible."

"Right… I know… I'll see you today, after school?"

"Sure."

"OK. Bye."

"Where are you—" she began, but he was already gone. That was odd. He hadn't eaten lunch. It occurred to Gaia that he was eating with someone else, but he had left the room completely. She tried not to be distracted during class, but she was kind of worried about him. Maybe he was just nervous about something. But what?

After school, Ed caught up to her and grabbed her hand. "OK, this is a surprise." He put a blindfold over her eyes, grinning. She smiled nervously.

"What if there's… you know… trouble?"

"I'll tell you if anything dangerous happens. Come on." He led her to the street, where they got into a car that smelled like a cab. Ed whispered something to the driver and the car started. He held on tightly to her hand as if she was going to run away. Gaia couldn't tell how long the trip was, but it felt like hours. When they got out, Gaia couldn't hear anything. Not _anything_. No people, no cars, not even birds.

"Ed, I don't like this," she said suddenly, ripping off the blindfold. They were in the middle of nowhere. There was one nondescript cement building a bit away from the street. "Where are we?"

The laughter was now definitely gone from his face. "Gaia, I told you I'd tell you if you were in danger. And you're in danger now."

"What?"

Ed pulled out a gun.

"Is there someone behind me, Ed?" She turned around to see if the cab was still there. It was, but it wasn't a cab. It was a discreet black car; she couldn't recognize the brand.

"No. No one but the driver." He pointed his gun… at her. He pressed it into her back. "Start walking, Gaia."

"What? Ed, what are you doing? Why are you doing this?" Gaia struggled to keep her voice steady, but seemed to be failing.

"I have my orders, Gaia."

"Is this a joke?" she asked desperately. She knew it wasn't, but she couldn't wrap her mind around the alternative… that the man she'd thought she was going to spend the rest of her life with was… betraying her.

"No joke. Start walking."

"Ed, please, _please_ don't do this! You can't really be… Ed please!" Her voice definitely wasn't steady any more."

"WALK, Moore."

He'd called her "Moore." She wouldn't cry. He had to have a reason for doing this. He couldn't really be stabbing her in the back. Well, he was. With a gun instead of a knife, he really was.

He really was.

Once inside, he transferred the gun, and consequently Gaia, to a large man with a tough expression on his face. Gaia thought about punching Ed in the face, but she couldn't make herself do it. And anyway, he couldn't _really_ be bad. He was _Ed_. The tough man brought her into a little square room with one barred wall and one big window. The other two walls were solid cement with no windows. It had a cushy-looking loveseat by the wall and a small bed.

The man shoved her into the room and slammed the door. Gaia looked around. She tried to sit on the loveseat, but it was too cushy. She thought about sitting on the bed, but it didn't even come up to her knees. So she stood. She looked around some more. Then she collapsed, unfortunately conscious. She sat on the floor in the corner of the two cement walls. She didn't even think about trying to get out. Why bother? There was nothing out there for her. Just people who died or betrayed her. It occurred to her that maybe it was better that Ed had betrayed her, because the alternative was his own untimely death. Then she remembered that in the past, the people who betrayed her had died, too. So his fate would stay the same, but when he died they would hate each other. Maybe she should stop thinking altogether. That sounded good. She brought her knees up to her chin and brought her head down so they covered her eyes.

She must've fallen asleep at some point, because she distinctly felt herself waking up. She might not have, though, because the room looked exactly the same. She looked around for some kind of change. There was one. Behind the window. Ed was standing there looking at her with an indiscernible but decidedly unpleasant expression. When he saw her looking at him, he gave her what she naively took to be a sympathetic expression. Then she noticed that a masked man next to him was pointing a gun through the glass at her. When she looked back at Ed, she realized he was grinning. And there was nothing sympathetic in his expression now. He was grinning because this man was about to kill her. Great.

She put her head back down. She may have fallen asleep again, because when she'd been curled up there for what felt like two minutes, Ed and the masked man were gone. She realized suddenly that what had woken her up was yelling.

"Let me go! What are you doing?"

There was a taser-ish sound and the voice stopped yelling.

The tough-looking man threw in another prisoner. Gaia put her head back down, uninterested. It wasn't Ed, and it wasn't her father, and that was all she needed to know.

The prisoner was thrown in, grunting. He made a frustrated sound. Gaia tried to tune him out.

"Gaia!" whispered the prisoner. "You're… you're here, this time!"

Gaia looked up and did something she'd given up on ever doing again. She smiled.

Alright, chickadees, the story is about… 20 percent over, maybe. I can't tell how long it'll be until I've done it. Do they say "what are you going on about" in America? I should really know this, as I've lived in California my whole life… but I don't talk to actual people much. Tell me if I use anything non-Newyorkish or if someone sounds too smart. I swear, one time in my head Ed said this whole sentence with about 10 words he'd never actually use… Mental people are so silly sometimes. Err… and by "mental" I mean in my head. Right, so forgive me for making Ed bad. Don't bash me till you've read the end. And review, pretty please? It'll make me update faster, I promise. Oh, I just got in my head to a point where to add drama I have to either use spoilers or make something up… But I shan't tell you which it was, so unless you've read all 36, you won't know! Flan! I reserve the right to make stuff up that happened in the past if I explain what it was.


	2. Chapter 2

Allo, chikadees. You're still reading, eh? Glad to see it. OK… so have we figured out who the prisoner is? Yes? No? FINE, don't answer! Ell-oh-ell. Let us see where this chapter takes us, shall we?

* * *

Gaia smiled. "Sam!" Then she frowned. "Sam… they got you, too?"

"Yeah… but maybe it won't be so bad now that you're here." He smiled nervously, looking almost hopeful. It was kind of adorable.

"Of course, we could just escape," she suggested.

"You say that like it's simple."

"Well…" Gaia said apologetically. She walked over to the barred wall and looked out to make sure no one was around. There was a vast amount of space between the bars… just enough that someone the size of Gaia could, with some effort, squeeze through. She tried it and succeeded in under half a minute.

Sam's jaw dropped. "You could've done that any time?"

"Probably…"

"Then why didn't you before?" he asked incredulously.

Gaia smiled slightly and shrugged. "No reason to, I guess…"

"That's awesome… I don't think I could slip through, though. I'm sorry."

"It's OK," Gaia assured him, having picked the easy lock on the door ten seconds since. "Well, as for who's done this, I think we can safely rule out Loki… or any member of my family, for that matter. This was an amateur. I've seen crack dens with tighter security."

"Wow! Thanks, Gaia! You have no idea how glad I am you were here."

Gaia smiled shyly. "Likewise."

Sam ran out of the cell and hugged her. Then he recoiled, embarrassed. "Sorry…"

"No problem," she reassured him, meaning it.

"Now how do we get past the guards?"

"Shouldn't be too hard. The amateur forgot to confiscate my .45."

"You carry a gun?" He sounded shocked.

"Well, I have to, now."

"Oh… So do you have any idea why we're here?"

"None whatsoever."

"How'd they get you, if you had a gun?"

Gaia looked down. She hadn't actually said these words yet, as she hadn't actually spoken to anyone since she'd gotten in. "Ed betrayed me."

"No!"

She laughed mirthlessly. "Yes."

"I'm sorry, Gaia. I always knew he was bad news." At Gaia's raised eyebrow, he added: "Well, for me, anyway."

Gaia considered laughing, but it wasn't that funny. So she was silent. At any moment she half-expected him to say "so you're single now, eh?" He didn't. They got all the way out without passing a single guard. This was getting ridiculous. Could the entire point possibly have been Ed's betrayal? To show her she couldn't trust anyone? Well, it wouldn't work, then. "Sam," Gaia said suddenly, once they were outside. "Can I trust you?"

"Of course. For what?"

"Nothing… I just… need someone to trust."

"Gaia, you can trust me to the end of the earth." This was surprisingly reassuring, actually. Out of nowhere, he gave her a hug. She didn't pull away immediately because it was… comforting… Maybe whoever wrote the ridiculous book that was her life had decided to have some pity on her. Maybe she could get over Ed eventually? Well, that could be a long-term goal. A very, very long-term goal. "Gaia," Sam suddenly cut into her thoughts. "You know… when I tried to start a new life without you… That didn't work."

"Yeah… I'm sorry about the whole getting-kidnapped-again thing…"

"No, I mean, not like that… Well, yeah, that kind of sucked too, but I mean… I can't… forget about you. I haven't stopped thinking about you since… well, since we _met_, really."

"I—I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For ruining your life."

"You didn't—well, I mean… no hard feelings about that. But what I mean is… I mean, I didn't think I'd see you again, but now I have I know…"

Gaia tried to be patient. "Yes?"

"That I still love you, Gaia."

There was an awkward silence, and Gaia noticed for the first time that they'd been walking down the road. "Where are we going?"

"I don't know, we're bound to hit a city sometime… or hitchhike… or something…" he hoped… with no real optimism.

"Right… I hope…"

"Yeah…" They were clearly skirting the subject of the L-word. Gaia considered this. _Did_ she love him? She certainly _had_ once loved him… yes, they'd broken up, and she'd realized how madly in love she was with Ed, but look how _that_ had turned out. She still had feelings for Sam. That was undeniable. And she'd known somewhere that he still had feelings for her. Being just-friends hadn't worked out… Maybe… _Maybe_ she still had a shot at happiness… Sam had already been through about the worst anyone _could_ go through because of her… and he still loved her. Was she ready to trust anyone yet? It couldn't have been more than a day since the one man she'd always trusted had almost killed her. The sun was just climbing in the sky; it couldn't yet have been noon. Could she really trust someone again? But the better question was… Could she _not_? Could she possibly survive her impossible life without taking a risk and trusting someone? And after this huge treachery, didn't she need support even sooner? But how did she know she could trust Sam?

She weighed out the pros and cons. Pro: She needed to trust someone. Con: He might betray her. Pro: Who was more trustworthy than someone who had already suffered through as much as Sam had? Con: What if it had made him hate her? Pro: She could easily believe he loved her. Con: She'd really believed Ed had loved her, too. Pro: Who else was there?

Maybe Sam was worth the risk… "Sam?"

"Uh-huh?"

"I think maybe… I think I… I might…" She closed her eyes for a second. Here she went, risking everything again. And now she was scared. She was scared to death. But he probably had been too, of course. And he had more to lose. He wasn't constantly in danger without her. But he'd managed. So she could too…

"Gaia? Are you OK?"

"Yeah… I just…" She forced herself. "I love you too." When she could manage to look at his face, he looked so purely, almost _innocently_ happy. And he was looking at her like… like he was really… in love. No one said anything. He seemed to be comfortable in the silence, but she wasn't. Luckily, a distraction presented itself. "Hey, I see a city up there!" It wasn't actually _on_ the road; it was in the near distance on the side of the road.

"I—great! I've still got my phone, I think; we just have to ask where we are!" The first person they found, they asked where they were. It turned out that the street they'd been walking on was Crest Drive. What had appeared to be the middle of nowhere had actually just been a loop-de-loop on a road that was actually quite close to Maplewood. Sam called a friend from his new, Gaia-less life she knew nothing about (except, apparently, that it was a failure) and they waited. Sam was still looking at her. And she found that it was… well, less and less unpleasant. He kept moving closer and closer to her. Was she really going to—yes, apparently she was. And had. This was a long way from curled-up in a cell with a gun pointed to her as Ed— Ed. She really hadn't been away from Ed for long, and now this? But then, she hadn't waited long after Sam to get together with Ed… And anyway, he hadn't really loved her. She'd thought he had, but it seemed he hadn't. It was so… nice, kissing Sam… to feel that someone, _someone_ still loved her. It was nice.

* * *

Alright, chiclets, I wasn't planning to end the chapter there… but that's where it ended, and I think 4 pages is enough for you to chew on. Jeez, it was hard to get them to do what I wanted them to. I had to make Gaia soliloquize for, like, _ever_. Seriously, with the dialogue, the thing is 1,236 words! And without, it's still 850 words. Err… I have too much time on my hands. Sorry. OK, so I'm finishing this up and the date is 12/27/05, but I shan't post it until I get a satisfactory number of reviews. But I shan't make you wait like I do for my mediator readers, because that story is my baby. So I have a certain amount of time OR a certain number of reviews… whichever comes first. So review, pretty, pretty please. I promise a reply to EVERY signed review. And if you leave a pen name or e-mail in an anon review, I'll reply to that as well. And if you're reading this when chapters 3 or greater are up, it doesn't hurt to review this one as well… I love that review flood of people who have gotten behind but then suddenly send in like 1 review on each chapter… it's happy. 


	3. Chapter 3

Hello, chikadees! So sorry I haven't been updating! Here you guys go. And I'll post TWO for making you wait.

Oh, I didn't mean to start writing so soon, but one of the parts has been replaying itself in my head, so I really have to get there. OK, so since I can no longer respond to my lovely reviewers in here (and in fact, I already have via PM), I shall start right away.

* * *

Once the car had gotten into the city, Sam asked Gaia where she was living now. Gaia said she didn't really feel like going back there now, and besides, Ed knew where that was. So Sam suggested that they go for a walk around the park they'd met in. So they did. Holding hands. Too cute. If it had been anyone but her, walking around holding hands with a guy, she'd have wanted to throw rocks at them. They walked along, just looking at each other… half of her couldn't believe it.

"What… the… HELL?"

Shocked out of her reverie, Gaia spun around, drawing her gun automatically. "Oh. It's you." It was Ed, of course.

"Gaia, how—they let you out? And you're with him?"

"You oughta know. Don't your superiors keep you informed?"

"Gaia, you—what? Then what's _he_ doing here?"

"I'm her new boyfriend," Sam explained before Gaia could say anything.

Ed looked incredulously at Gaia, who nodded, seriously beginning to hate Ed.

"I—you—GOD DAMNIT!" He kicked the nearest tree, practically _roared_, turned back to them, and all but ran away. This was not at all the Ed she'd known—or thought she'd known.

"That was… weird…"

"Yeah… he really didn't want you to escape… If they hadn't thrown me in there, I'd have thought he wanted you in there to be his personal love-slave."

Gaia smirked at him. "Well, you're in considerably better spirits…"

"Much better, thanks to you." Gaia kissed him. Unfortunately, at that moment, someone screamed and Sam suddenly looked at her expectantly.

"What?"

"Aren't you still doing… the vigilante thing?"

"Oh… that… fine."

She ran toward where the scream had come from, but no one was in any trouble. She did a thorough search of the surrounding area, butfound nothing. If there was anyone, they were gone. Great, so whoever was in trouble was bound and gagged in a huge van somewhere. And all she could think of was the interrupted kiss. That seemed slightly disgusting of her, but she couldn't help it. Anyway, it was getting very dark. It had to be curfew.

"I'll walk you home?" Sam offered.

"Oh no, not this one again. _I'm_ walking _you_ home, and that's final." Sam looked a little confused, but she reminded him she was armed, and he finally agreed. Not because she'd threatened to shoot him, but because… yes. OK. Moving on. So at any rate…

The next morning at school passed uneventfully. Well, with the minor exceptions of constant thoughts of Sam… and thoughts of Ed winged in, but that might've been just because he was staring at her intently in every class they shared. At lunch, he tried to approach her, but she gave him her coldest stare, and he made an aggravated sound and retreated. Everyone was looking at her constantly. She'd have thought it was just about Ed, but people were staring at her less like they were confused, and more like she had a huge zit in the middle of her head. In her more unreasonable moments, she even thought they were staring at her forehead. But when she scowled at them, they went quickly back to what they were doing.

During science, when the teacher was droning on about the many wonders of hydrogen ions, he asked Ed a question. Ed, of course, had no idea what the teacher had been talking about.

"Now, now, Ed, I gave you an easy one. Maybe if you stopped staring at your girlfriend and started looking up here, you'd know that the answer was 'it donates an electron.'"

A collective giggle went around the room, and Gaia suddenly realized she had no desire to be associated with this two-faced, double-crossing backstabber. She also realized that this was doubly redundant. "I'm not his girlfriend," she said frostily. Every student immediately started murmuring to each other. As soon as order was restored, Ed silently stood up and left the room. Emotionally charged for no apparent reason, Gaia soon asked to be excused for a moment. She had to talk to Sam. She _had_ to. She speed-dialed his number and waited for it to connect. No signal. She walked outside and tried the call again. Ed was standing there, talking on his own phone. He wasn't facing her. "Hey baby."

Who was Ed calling baby? Had he had a girlfriend this entire time while he'd been pretending to love her? Had he been—oh. Ed hadn't said that. That had been Sam on the phone. Which made more sense. She vaguely heard the real Ed saying "What? What do I—" He broke off when Gaia said "Hey, Sam." Ed suddenly started talking in a frenzied whisper and turned to Gaia, cell phone gone.

Gaia was suddenly struck by the undeniable urge to be affectionate with Sam… It was ridiculous, but maybe she was trying to make Ed jealous… but that was stupid. Ed couldn't be jealous if he'd never loved her. Still, she couldn't resist. "I can't wait to see you. Let's go out tonight."

"OK," he agreed. She could hear him smiling. "Where shall we go?"

"Definitely dinner."

"OK, dinner it is. Got a place in mind?"

"Wherever you want to go."

"What about Palma?"

"Sure, sweetie," she gushed, extra-sugary.

"OK… girl masquerading as Gai—Ed's right there, isn't he?"

"How'd you know?"

"OK. See you tonight. Meet you there at seven?"

"What about reservations?"

"Don't worry about it."

"OK." She looked directly at Ed. "I love you… Sam." Ed turned around and started walking away, but in one last vicious instinct, Gaia added: "And you don't have to bring anything. Especially not something stupid, like cheese."

Sam agreed, bemused, but Ed froze in his tracks. He started to turn, then stopped and continued walking away.

* * *

(author note: geez, this story is moving so FAST! I love it when I lose control completely. We're already on that night!)

Palma was pretty close to Washington Square Park, so Gaia just walked. She could actually _see_ the restaurant when someone rushed her from behind and pushed her into an ally. Oh, spite. It was Ed Fargo. Oh hell. He had a gun. He actually looked nervous. He was actually trembling. Of course, if he flubbed this up, there'd be consequences.

"Oh, what now, Fargo?"

"I'm here to—to kill you."

"Why?"

He stopped shaking. "Because, Gaia, like every sane person on Earth, I hate you."

"You loved me once."

"Yes, when you were different. When you were special. Now you're just like everyone else."

That stung slightly, to tell the truth. "Being like everyone else is hardly a reason to kill me."

"No, but everyone around you continues to die. To get hurt. The world is a better place without you in it, Gaia." He raised the gun and shot toward her head. He missed by about a mile. No shock, he'd probably never held a gun before.

What if he was right? She had once trusted his judgment more than anyone el—wait, no, she wasn't going to start believing him. She opened her mouth to distract him and knocked the gun out of his hands.

"What, you gonna shoot me now, Gaia? You wouldn't. You loved me. You still love me. You know it."

She pointed the gun directly at him and said, "I loved the man I thought you were. He doesn't exist. You, I don't mind killing…" She was silent for a moment and suddenly shouted "BANG!" Ed jumped about a foot in the air. "Coward." He gave her a sarcastic look. "Are you crying, man?"

"No, I—oh screw it, I'm about to die. Give me a break."

"Oh, give you a break? Why?"

"Fine, don't, either way."

"Gaia, what's going on?" Sam suddenly called, appearing in the ally. "I saw someone push you into the—oh… it's him. Are you… are you going to shoot him?"

"No."

"You're not?" asked Ed, surprised.

"I know you're not the Ed I loved, but you look just like him. It's too hard. Sam, how about you do it?"

Sam made some lame excuse and suddenly Ed looked at Gaia, looked at Sam, looked at Gaia, looked at Sam, and literally _flew_ at Sam, trying to strangle him. Gaia shot instinctively and hit her target. He gave one laugh and fell to the ground, grimacing against the pain. He opened his eyes once, looked straight at her, and whispered her name. Then, his face contorting, his eyes closed… and his face relaxed. He lay in a pool of blood. Gaia stared at him, her eyes blurring. Why did it have to end this way? Why did he have to be so stupid? He could have been fine if he'd just run instead of trying to kill her boyfriend. Sam took her hand. "Come on, Gaia."

"I'm not really in the mood for dinner anymore, Sam."

"That's Ok—" He broke off as Gaia suddenly ran away, bent over, and dry-heaved. When Sam caught up with her, she was sobbing. He held her close and she wrapped her arms around him. They sat there like that until he managed to coax her back to his place, where he placed her on the bed. She fell instantly into a dreamless sleep.

OK, do I suck? Please keep reading… perdy please? Because the next few chapters… start again, from the beginning, in Ed Fargo's point of view. Your curiosity SHALL be satiated. And it'll end happily-ish. I mean, I think it's happy, but that's just me… But if you stop reading now, I really feel bad for you, 'cause you don't know nothing. Not as in… oh, screw it. You know what I mean. You're clever little reading people. The date is 12/28/05. (You must really hate me, as i'm posting this half a year later)


	4. Chapter 4

OK… the coveted restart: same story, different side.

* * *

"Are you _sure_ you don't want me to walk you home?" Gaia asked Ed again.

"No, one of us is going to have to walk home alone, and you're in more danger than I am. _I'll_ walk _you_ home."

"But I have…" she gestured toward the pocket where Ed knew she had a gun. His girlfriend packed heat. That continued to freak Ed out, actually. Not that he thought she'd use it on him, but just the fact that she could kill someone with a twitch of her finger. Scary thought.

"Err… yeah… I keep trying to forget that."

"Sorry."

Ed assured her he'd be careful and Gaia reluctantly agreed. After they'd gotten to where she was staying, he kissed her one more time.

"Call me when you get home, so I know you're alright, 'kay?" she urged him anxiously. She was so protective lately. He didn't particularly mind, either. It was a big step up from her usual apathy.

"Yes, Mom."

Gaia hit him on the arm, in what she evidently intended to be a playful way. He pretended it didn't hurt. "Seriously, Ed."

"OK," he agreed.

"I love you." Whoah! She almost _never_ said "I love you" first! His heart did little back flips and he was hardly conscious of repeating it. Maybe that last kiss didn't have to be the _last_ last kiss of the night. She waved goodbye in a way that would've been cutely ditzy except for the mass amounts of concern on her face. But she didn't have that much to worry about. Well, yeah, he might die, but he'd accepted that. He started heading home, thinking about that last kiss again. He was so caught up in Gaia, he hardly even noticed the pretty girl in the black convertible. Well, hardly. But she evidently saw him looking, because she pulled over.

"Hey," she said innocently. "You seem like a native. Do you know how to get to Green-witch Village?"

Ah, a tourist. "You mean Greenwich? It's pronounced 'Gren-itch."

"Oh!" she laughed. "That explains all the funny looks and laughter. I must seem like such a day-tripper!"

"Naah, it's a common mistake." He gave her the directions. "Got it?"

"Umm… left on 1st…"

"No, umm… do you have a pen?"

"Not with me, sorry… Maybe you could get in and… show me the way?"

"Umm… are you serious, flirting, or trying to kidnap me? 'Cause either way, my girlfriend's waiting for me to call her…"

"Aaw, that girl always ruins everything."

"Sorry?"

"Gaia Moore. Never even met her and she's already ruining my chances with you. I guess you'll need some extra persuasion." She got out of the car and pointed an unobtrusive little gun at him. Wow. He hadn't been expecting _that_ one. No wonder Gaia was so worried. Why had he left his cell phone at home again? Oh yeah, so it wouldn't ring during their date. Way to go, Fargo. "Now get in the car, Eddie." And she knew his name. Well, she knew half of his name, anyway. He shouldn't be surprised. What could he do? He got into the car. He wished he could talk to Gaia one more time, as he was obviously going to die. The car went on and on. The beautiful girl kept trying to flirt with him, but he wouldn't talk. Oh, good plan. Don't talk. Don't tell them _anything_. Could he withstand torture? For Gaia, he could. For Gaia.

* * *

Wow, this chapter was a shorty, wasn't it? But I KNOW you won't stop reading now, because you still read fearless no matter WHAT torture Francine Pascal puts all her characters through. Because, if you're like me, you love these people. Especially Ed, who r0xorz. 


	5. Chapter 5

Alright, no witticisms today, I NEED to get this written. And no, I'm not writing myself in. It just happens that I was trying to think of a nice common name, and the most common name in America is Emily. And I keep wanting to make an Emily in my stories… but they always end up evil… or at least really mean. Well, that's my opinion of myself, I guess. :grin: Anyway, if I were talking about me, I wouldn't have made her "pretty."

Anyway, the day that I posted this one, I'd started writing again... so much for "this'll be 5 or 6 chapters"... I'll post two at once again. It's only nice. Or, heck, I'll post up to where I got before with the... so, up to 10. Because I love you sooo much, whoever the hell is actually reading this.

* * *

"So, my name's Emily," the girl driving the car informed Ed.

"I'm so happy for you."

"Aaw, come on. Don't be so frigid."

"I love my girlfriend," Ed informed her firmly.

"Aw, don't worry about that." The girl smiled so that Ed expected her to say "she'll never find out." What she did say was worse. "She won't be your girlfriend much longer, I promise."

What did that mean? _What did that mean?_ "What are you going to do?"

"Oh, now I think my boss wants to tell you that plan."

"Well who's your boss?"

"Now that, I _know_ I can't tell you."

"Is there… anything I can do to change your mind?" he attempted suggestively.

"_Nice_ try, buddy. But we already know where your priorities are. This is gonna suck for you. I almost feel bad." She laughed. "Almost!"

"So you know. You know what's going to suck for me."

"Oh, yeah."

"…and?"

She went through the motions of zipping her lips and throwing away the key, and refused to speak again through the heinously long car ride. She tried turning the radio on at one point, but Ed asked her to at least turn it off. She smiled, shrugged, and turned it off. They rode in total silence. Ed was running through everything he'd said to Gaia. Was it good enough to be the last conversation they'd ever had? He'd made fun of her at some point… but hell, what was a conversation with him and no jokes? And the kiss… oh god… what if that was his last kiss with Gaia? If he'd only known it'd be his last… This freaking sucked. This really, really really sucked. But hey, he could be optimistic. He didn't know what was going to happen yet. Maybe if he prayed, God would take pity on him. Well hey, it was worth a shot, right? _Please, please, if nothing else, just let me kiss her one more time… just one more time… Just let her live. I'll do anything if Gaia's OK._

They were there. Or… somewhere… Emily had stopped the car, and he had absolutely no idea where they were. It was the middle of nowhere, that was all that was visible. It could go on for miles, for all he knew.

"C'mon, Eddy boy! There's a building up here!"

"Eddy boy…" Ed muttered. "Jesus Christ…" He followed her anyway. What else could he do? She'd taken the keys and the gun. She led him away from the road and inside a big cement building. A man with a mask that covered his entire head stood waiting near the entrance. Or, presumably a man, anyway.

"Hello, Ed Fargo," said the man(?) through a voice-distorter.

All the questions Ed had been sitting on during the car ride suddenly spilled out of him. "Alright, what the hell? Who are you? Do I know you? If I don't, why the disguise? What are your plans for me?" And the most important question: "What are you going to do to Gaia?"

"Oh, don't worry, Eddie. I won't do anything to Gaia," said his inhuman voice. Oh thank GOD! "…as long as you do _exactly_ as I say." Ooh shit. "Well?"

He would do anything for Gaia, of course. But he shouldn't show all his cards this early in the game. "What exactly did you have in mind?"

"Just bring her to me."

"And what will you do to her?"

"Nothing. As long as you follow your instructions."

Great. Now for the secondary question. "And what will you do… to me?'

Somehow, Ed got the feeling that the masked man was smiling. "Just follow my instructions."

"Will you kill me when you're finished with me?"

"No, I won't kill you. Just don't give me any reason to. Any more idiotic questions?"

"Just the one. What will you do to Gaia if I _don't_ follow your instructions?"

By way of a response, the man just told him to look at the far cement wall. There was a red dot on it. "Do you know what that is?"

"…A laser?"

"Not just any laser. Look." Ed turned around. The man was holding a very intimidating gun. "This is a laser-gun. The red dot tells you where the bullet will go if you decide to press the trigger." He demonstrated. Where the red dot had been, there now stood a large dent in the cement. "Let that serve as a reminder to you. Red… means stop." _This guy clearly writes his own script_, thought some obscure part of his mind which was still functioning normally. The rest of it was considering the implications of a red dot on Gaia. A bang. A hole. He tried to stop this line of thinking before it became even more disturbing, but failed.

"What do you want me to do?" Ed finally asked miserably.

"Do you see this?" He held something up.

"Not really."

"This," explained the man condescendingly, "is a fancy walky-talky. This is the receiver." He held up something tiny that Ed couldn't even see. "This is the microphone."

"Uh… where does that go?"

"On your tooth," said the masked man. Through his distorting device, Ed thought he could hear a faint trace of amusement. "But there's something special about this walky-talky. You see, once you put it on, I can hear everything you say. Everything the people around you say. And through the earpiece, you can hear exactly what I want you to hear. Through this, you will receive your commands. You will do exactly as I say. If you should try to defy any direct order, you will see a small dot appear on Gaia Moore's head. I have spies everywhere you go, who will alert me when they see something out of the ordinary. And everywhere you go, someone will have one of these." He held up the sinister gun again. "You will do exactly as I say… no matter what."

* * *

Starting to get some idea of where this is going? Bwahaha. I feel so bad. I love these characters, I really do. There's not really anyone from the series that I can think of immediately whom I don't love. Well… I guess I'm not so crazy about Yuri. And for whatever reason, I can't stand Natasha. I don't actually mind Tatiana so much… I guess because she reminds me of me. Only, minus the "pretty" and "graceful," of course. 


	6. Chapter 6

Alright, the next Fearless is on order at the Barnes and Noble. I can pick it up anytime. I am… so… HAPPY. But reading it will render this story incompletable… and I have to get it out, it's been all I've thought about for so long. So where were we?

* * *

The rest of the night passed in a blur. He got home eventually. He considered calling Gaia. _Call me when you get home, so I know you're alright, 'kay?_ She would be worried about him. But he _wasn't_ alright. And he had a feeling things would only get worse. He didn't call.

_Testing, 1, 2, 3._

What was that? He had heard a voice… but there was no one around. It was like it was in his head…

_Fargo. It's the boss. If you can hear me, say something._

Oh, god. The boss. The microphone. Maybe he could pretend not to hear it…

_If you don't respond now, I'll have to bring you back here and check the microphone. _

Damn. "Yeah, I can hear you."

_Wonderful_, responded the distorted voice in his head. _I'll give you further instructions tomorrow morning. _Great. Wonderful. Just absolutely spiffy. _Sweet dreams._

Hah, sleep. Yeah, right. He stayed in bed for a half-hour, but no sleep came. He raided the fridge, but the thought of food made him want to puke. He turned the TV on, but he couldn't focus. Maybe a nice cold shower would—what a joke. He sat down on his bed. The clock ticked maddeningly. Wow. He had a digital clock. So he was imagining the ticking. Tick-tock-tick-tock. He'd been sitting like that for a half-hour before his back started to hurt, so he lay down. He stared up at the ceiling, unable to think of anything but Gaia.

Gaia.

_Gaia._


	7. Chapter 7

Ed walked toward the school feeling like a zombie. _Don't forget,_ he thought, _follow orders or Gaia's head is a squashed melon._ Why the hell had he just thought that? Now he was gonna be—oh. He hadn't thought it. It had been the microphone. _Get some sleep, Fargo_. That one was definitely Ed.

He almost walked past Gaia, but she greeted him.

"You didn't call last night."

Ed willed her to somehow guess the reason… but he couldn't tell her. "Oh… yeah… I guess I just… forgot."

She seemed to see _something_ in his face. "Is something wrong?"

_Yes, Gaia, something is _very_ wrong!_ he thought. Then an unbidden thought, which he soon recognized as the voice in his head—or, in his ear—said _Answer her! And you'd _better_ answer her in the negative… Or else. _"No," he said, maybe _too_ forcefully. "I'm fine."

"Jesus, Ed, don't blow a gasket."

Yeah, too abrupt. "I'm sorry, I just—" Something was wrong. Oh god. There was a red dot on Gaia's head! _Here?_ He started to look around, then stopped himself. Gaia couldn't know. That much he knew. Nothing was stopping that gun from firing, wherever it was. "Nevermind," he forced himself to say. "I'm going to class. Bye."

He watched her for the rest of the day, but she never even looked at him. Did she hate him already? What if he hadn't even done the worst of it yet? Lunchtime. _Go somewhere quiet to receive your instructions. _Damn. He ducked into a bathroom stall. If someone heard him, they wouldn't be able to tell he had no cell phone, at least. _Apologize to her, _said the voice.Was that good or bad? _Tell her you have something to show her. _"What do I have?" _That doesn't concern you yet._ "So, something bad." The voice laughed. Not nicely. Great. _Now, Eddy._ "Don't freaking call me that. More laughter on the other side.

He found Gaia. She was sitting alone, looking murderous. Which was about one step madder than her usual homicidal. She didn't say anything to him when he sat across from her. He cut right to the chase. "I'm sorry." Nothing. Oh god, was he really going to do this? Would he really put her in god-knew-what danger? Yes. Yes, he would. If the other option was her death, then he would do anything. Well this sucked. "I don't know what all that was earlier, but I was hoping I could make it up to you. Later? I have something I want to show you." He almost gagged on the words. She didn't respond. "Gaia?" She ignored him. His mind worked. Could he do this? Could he really make her trust him when he didn't want her to? "I don't want to do this…" She could have no idea how true that was. "…But you've forced me." He tried to muster up a puppy-dog face, but his heart wasn't in it.

She was laughing. _No, Gaia!_ he mentally urged her. _Don't laugh! Don't forgive me! Hate me forever!_ She apparently didn't receive any of these messages, because she said "Oh, fine. But you'd better do some serious up-making." Sweet Gaia. Wait, sweet Gaia? What the hell? He was probably the first person to think _those_ two words together since she was five. Why did she trust him so much?

"I will." Oh god, could he ever make up for whatever was going to happen to her? They wouldn't hurt her, they had _promised_ they wouldn't hurt her if he followed their orders. "I hope I can make up enough."

"Oh, you weren't _that_ horrible," she assured him. _Yet. If only you knew, Gaia._

He said something vague. _After school._ What? Oh. That one wasn't him. _Make an appointment for after school._ "I'll see you today, after school?" Oh, you traitor. But she agreed. He said 'bye' and left without another word.


	8. Chapter 8

The voice in Ed's head gave him instructions. Was there any chance he was going insane? The thought didn't seem too far off. That might be a relief, actually… Wow, that was pretty fast for going insane… Maybe he wasn't…

When he saw her, he wasn't sure if he could force himself to do god-knew-what to her. She was so beautiful… So sweet and innocent… Wait, sweet and innocent? Gaia? Maybe he _was_ going insane. _Go._ Was that him or the voice? Oh, lord…

He forced himself to take her hand. She _must_ notice how strained his smile was! He told her in his new, faux-happy-to-the-point-of-being-manic voice that he had a surprise. _Oh, you'll be surprised, all right…_ At any rate, now he'd see how _much_ she trusted him. Too much, was the clear answer. But why shouldn't she? He loved her. Oh god, how he loved her. He blindfolded her. She was smiling. _Stop smiling, Gaia._ _Nothing is happy._

"What if there's… you know… trouble?" she asked him nervously. _There IS trouble, Gaia. Take the blindfold off and run for your life, Gaia! Let them kill me, just run and hide! _But there she still stood, smiling that helpless smile.

"I'll tell you if anything dangerous happens," he assured her. Before he could say anything else, a car pulled up. Emily waved to him from the driver's seat and handed him a gun, which he stared at. _Pocket it_, said the voice. Oh. God. Time for Vulcan mind control. _Gaia, you hate me. Decide I'm not worth it. Realize what I'm doing and loathe me forever. Anything if you're OK._ Out loud, he said "Come on." He handed her into the black car, which stank surprisingly. It smelled like a cab. Oh. Of course... It was a long car ride. He considered kissing her. No… as it stood, their last kiss was perfect. Or maybe idealized. He could never idealize a kiss under these circumstances… To try it now would make it tainted. Well, that sucked ass. He took her hand in both of his. Would this be the last time? He prayed that they would never get to their destination; that he would sit holding her hand with her smiling uncertainly until the end of time. Apparently, the end of time wasn't as far off as he'd hoped. They'd arrived.

They got out. Suddenly, she exclaimed, "Ed, I don't like this. Where are we?"

He looked at her soberly. "Gaia, I told you I'd tell you if you were in danger. And you're in danger now."

"What?" She looked so shocked. It still didn't seem to occur to her that he could be betraying her.

_Take out the gun, Ed,_ said the voice. Here it was. He took out the gun. Poor, sweet Gaia looked behind her, as if thinking he had to be pointing it at someone else. _No, dear Gaia, it's you,_ he thought desolately. "Is there someone behind me, Ed?"

_Yes,_ he thought, wishing he could shoot Emily instead. "No, no one but the driver." She seemed to register that they hadn't gotten there by taxi. _Point the gun at her._ What? Why had he—oh, right, voice. Wait, do _what_? _Put it against her back and tell her to start walking._ He did what the voice said, feeling sick. What if there was no voice? What if he was schizophrenic? But then, that wouldn't explain Emily and the gun and the cement building, right?

"What? Ed, what are you doing?" she asked desperately. Ed thought he might throw up, but he knew he couldn't. "Why are you doing this?"

The voice didn't come on to script him, so he just told her the truth. Or part of it, anyway. "I have my orders, Gaia."

"Is this a joke?"

She knew it wasn't a joke. She had to know he would never make a joke so completely unfunny.

"No joke." _Get her walking,_ said his ear. He did. She begged him to stop. _Begged_ him. She, Gaia Moore, was begging. Begging _him_. And there was nothing he could do. He couldn't say her name again, he knew that. He couldn't stand it. But she had to start walking. His heart broke for her. "Walk… Moore."

Once they got inside, the masked man held his hand out. "Give me the gun," said the distorted voice. Had that been aloud or through the mic? He had no idea, but he did as he was told. The man-thing took Gaia away. She didn't look back at him.

* * *

The man told him that his work was done… for now. He told Ed that he could either stay or leave; it didn't matter. Ed chose to stay and watch Gaia through the window. It was horrible, but he couldn't stand the guilt of abandoning her. She was curled up in fetal position in a corner. Had she loved him so much? He had never seen her like this. _Oh, Gaia…_ he thought, but no more words. He gazed at her miserably. At some point she moved her head and looked around. She looked straight at him. She looked so dejected; so betrayed. He tried to comfort her without words, smiled softly and sorrowfully at her. But before she responded, he saw a little red dot on her forehead.

"Smile, Ed," said the voice that haunted him. He forced his face into a twisted grin. Her face expressionless, Gaia put her head back down. Ed decided to leave now. Staying could only hurt her more.


	9. Chapter 9

Ed went home. For a while, he sat staring at the wall. Then he decided it would be more productive to lie in bed and try to sleep. That equated to staring at the ceiling. He got up in frustration and raided the refrigerator. He didn't feel like anything. Well, he _had_ just had dinner. With Gaia. Just a few hours ago. Wait… a few hours ago _yesterday_. He found some of his dad's beer in the back of the fridge and gulped it straight down. It didn't make him feel any better, but a nice haze overtook him. He needed some fresh air, so he went out for a walk. He found that his feet had taken him to the park. Gaia's park.

There was a couple walking through the park. They looked so happy. So in love. Like he and Gaia had used to be. He could see himself now, in that guy's place, holding Gaia's hand… He could see Gaia so clearly… He hoped she was OK right now… Wait… He rubbed his eyes and stared, agape. It was… Gaia… _his_ Gaia. And the guy… was Sam Moon. _Sam Moon. _And they were looking at each other like… like they were… like she really… Ed thought he was going to fall over. Time seemed to stop.

"What… the… HELL?" he shouted. No, no! Gaia couldn't be in love with this guy. This guy could not have Ed's Gaia. _His Gaia_. This was _not happening_!

Gaia swirled, gun drawn. And aimed at him. Gaia was pointing a gun at him. With one movement of her finger, he would be dead. Killed by his Gaia. But how had this happened?

"Gaia, how—they let you out? And you're with him?"

"You oughta know," she replied coldly. "Don't your superiors keep you informed?"

"Gaia, you—what?" How could she be talking to him like this? She couldn't have stopped loving him so quickly! And what about _Sam Moon_? "Then what's _he_ doing here?"

Sam answered for her. "I'm her new boyfriend,"

No. No, no, nono, no. No! Gaia nodded, smiling smugly.

"I…" Ed began. What could he say? "You…" She loved him! She had to love him! But hadn't he just been praying that she would stop? What if this was the best? But the best for whom? They had been perfectly happy together before Mr./Ms. Creepy had intervened. Ed, completely powerless, swore as loudly as he could into the night. He kicked some nearby object. He turned back and saw the way she looked at him. With something… something like… like… hatred. And there was nothing he could do about it. His Gaia hated him. As he watched, a small red dot appeared on her forehead. There was a laser gun. Here.

Near tears, he turned and ran as fast as he could on his wobbling legs. When he looked back, his Gaia was leaning close to Sam. Her lips met his. Ed shouted in fury. Rage. Helplessness. The kiss stopped. Gaia looked around and started walking in Ed's direction. He bolted.

* * *

Get it, chiclets? The interuppting scream was Ed! I'm a horrible little person. I love seeing Ed suffer. Err... hate... I meant hate... heh... well then. 


	10. Chapter 10

He couldn't take his eyes off of her in school the next day. Nor did he try. She was so beautiful. He imagined kissing her again. In his mind, his own face changed to Sam's. Sam kissing her. Her looking that way at him. What if they were… oh, god. He focused on her and tried to send her telepathic messages. _I love you Gaia I love you love me not him_… He was half hung-over, but he never had gotten any sleep last night. How long had it been since he had slept? Or eaten? Oh, who cared. He had tried to approach her at lunch, but he had seen a little red dot on her forehead. In the cafeteria. Of the school. A laser gun.

He gazed at Gaia all through class. Eventually he realized that his name was being called. "…gave you an easy one. Maybe if you stopped staring at your girlfriend and started looking up here, you'd know that the answer was…"

There was a tittering from the students. Before Ed could completely process what had just happened, Gaia's voice cut through his thoughts. "I'm not his girlfriend."

The world was spinning in a disorienting way. Voices were sounding from all sides. Ed got up and left. He needed more fresh air. This time, he wouldn't meet up with Gaia and her little… puppy. She was inside. "What do you want from me?" he asked out loud. The voice answered him. _That's on a need-to-know basis_. "I think I NEED TO KNOW!" he exclaimed. Then he remembered to whisper when he heard the door open. The voice said something he couldn't hear. He started to ask it to repeat itself, but suddenly heard Gaia's voice.

"Hey, Sam."

He whirled. Sam could not be here. He was at school! A Sam-free zone! Oh. Gaia was on a cell phone. He whispered into what he assumed was a listening microphone. "She just walked up behind me. I've gotta go."

"I can't wait to see you," Gaia was saying cheerily. "Let's go out tonight." _Oh, shoot me,_ Ed thought. She continued being bubbly and sweet. She had to be faking this, right? This couldn't just be what Gaia looked like when she was in love. Because she'd never acted like this with him. Which would mean that she'd never… "I love you." Ed turned to look at her, for a moment certain that she was talking to him. She was even looking at him. "…Sam." The word was a stake into his heart. He knew she had meant it that way. But that would mean that she knew he'd be jealous. Which would mean that she knew that he loved her. Which would mean… what? That she knew that he hadn't betrayed her but just didn't care? Ed started to walk away, but she was still talking. "And you don't have to bring anything. Especially not something stupid, like cheese." Ed stopped dead. It was true. That had been aimed directly at him. She was trying to hurt him. He'd… he'd thought she'd liked the cheese… she'd laughed… But then, she'd said she loved him, too. He started to turn towards her, then stopped. His vision blurred. Maybe it was better that she didn't love him. Didn't miss him. He walked away. Home.

When he got there, he once again found himself with nothing whatsoever to do. He talked to Mr. Microphone. "She hates me, doesn't she?"

_Oh, yes, Eddie_, said what he assumed was the microphone and not his subconscious. _She loathes you._

Ed hit his head against the wall. "What is your plan for me?"

_You'll find out_.

"Please. Just do something. Anything. Kill me. I can't live like this any more."

_Oh no, Eddie. _I_ won't kill you. I promise._

"Great…"

He sat and did nothing for a few hours. He couldn't go outside and risk seeing her, with or without Sam. He couldn't stand it. He thought about Gaia. A lot. After about three hours of sitting, Mr. Voice talked to him again. _Eddie?_

Ed didn't respond, but it continued regardless. _You still got that gun?_

It waited for an answer. Ed sighed. "Yes." It was on his nightstand. Maybe the voice would ask him to kill himself. Or better yet… kill Sam. But he couldn't really kill Sam. Not if Gaia… not if his Gaia… cared about him. Bastard. The voice told him what he was really supposed to do. Oh. Oh, god. He stood by Palma and waited. After somewhere between an hour and forever, he saw her. Alone. And so beautiful. She'd prettied herself up and everything. For Sam. Great. He rushed her from behind, as per his instructions, and pushed her into an ally. Did she feel the sparks where his hands touched her arm? She had to. She felt so good. He pulled out the gun. It was shaking. No, _Ed_ was shaking. That made sense, given what he was about to do.

"Oh, what now, Fargo?" she asked, sounding bored.

"I'm here to—to kill you," he managed to squeak. Kill his Gaia? Never.

"Why?"

He let the script he'd been given take over him. "Because, Gaia, like every sane person on Earth, I hate you."

"You loved me once," she said, sounding… what? Hurt? Did this mean that she had loved him once, too? But he couldn't think along these lines now.

"Yes, when you were different. When you were special. Now you're just like everyone else."

It took her a moment to respond. Had he really hurt her? _No, Gaia, I didn't mean it. You're still special. You'll always be special! You're my little Gaia…_ "Being like everyone else is hardly a reason to kill me," she said, getting her voice under control.

"No, but everyone around you continues to die. To get hurt. The world is a better place without you in it, Gaia." Now came the fun part. The voice hadn't really told him to kill her, of course; he'd never do that. It had told him to miss. He missed by as much as he possibly could while still looking like he'd tried. He didn't want to actually get her by accident while his hands shook.

She opened her mouth to speak, and while his eyes were transfixed on her lips, she reached up, still looking bored, and knocked the gun into the air, catching it easily.

"What, you gonna shoot me now, Gaia? You wouldn't. You loved me. You still love me. You know it." This was still scripted. He knew perfectly well she didn't love him any more, if she ever had. This, he knew, was how he would die. His little Gaia, the love of his life, would shoot him.

She pointed the gun at him and said, "I loved the man I thought you were. He doesn't exist. You, I don't mind killing…" There was complete silence for a moment and a sudden "BANG!" Ed jumped before he realized that it had just been Gaia. "Coward," she spat. His vision blurred again. He'd known he would die soon dating Gaia, but he'd never thought it would be like this. He'd thought he would die because Gaia loved him. He'd never even imagined he would die because she hated him. "Are you crying, man?" She sounded disgusted.

"No, I—" he began. Then left off. This part wasn't scripted. "Oh, screw it, I'm about to die. Give me a break."

"Oh, give you a break?" she mocked. "Why?"

"Fine, don't, either way." _Just kill me already. End this. _

"Gaia, what's going on?" Oh, please, no. Sam. He was suddenly filled with visions of Gaia kissing Sam while shooting Ed. He wanted this to end. "I saw someone push you into the—oh… it's him. Are you… are you going to shoot him?"

"No," she answered positively.

_What?_ "You're not?" asked Ed, shocked.

"I know you're not the Ed I loved, but you look just like him. It's too hard." Oh, god! Gaia! Beautiful Gaia. She wouldn't kill him. She loved him! "Sam, how about you do it?"

Ok… that wasn't quite how he'd hoped it would go, but it would be better than Gaia killing him…

"No, Gaia," Sam said. He looked directly at Ed and smiled slightly behind Gaia's back. "I promised I wouldn't kill him."

Promised he wouldn't… Promised… _Oh no, Eddie. _I_ won't kill you. I promise._

He looked back and forth from Sam to Gaia, shocked. Sam… Mr. or Ms. Creepy was Sam Moon. Sam kissing Gaia. His Gaia. Sam making Ed hurt Gaia. Leave Gaia. Sam pointing that gun at her head. Ed's exhausted brain turned off. He lunged at Sam. A shot sounded and pain coursed through him. He laughed incredulously. He'd been so prepared for death until this moment. The pain. He managed to open his eyes long enough to take a last look at his love. He managed to get out one last whisper… "Gaia…" And then everything went black.

* * *

Wait wait! Only stop now if you actually like this as an ending. If you plan to stop reading before the next chapter, read this sentence backwards. 

.moor latipsoh sih otni gninnur iaK draeh eh nehw pu ekow eH


	11. Chapter 11

**Dear everyone who still has me on alert and still uses that e-mail. I'm an awful person who stopped this story right before the resolution way back when. Well, my laptop that I wrote this chapter on forever ago bricked, and I just got the files back, so I'm posting it. I know you probably care about neither Fearless nor fanfiction anymore, and especially not this somewhat silly story. (Like 50% of Fearless fics are called "Betrayal." Seriously.) But face it, there's always been a small hole in your heart where you vaguely recall this fic and were sad about it. No, there was. And now it can close. **

He woke up when he heard Kai running into his hospital room.

"Ed!" Kai shouted frantically. "I'm so sorry! I told Gaia you'd been shot in the leg and you were in the hospital! I thought she'd want to know!"

Ed smiled slightly. "And?"

"And she… she just muttered 'Damn it, I missed,' and ran away! Ed, I'm really worried. I took a cab right over, but she was running pretty fast…"

Ed laughed. These painkillers seemed to be having no small effect on him. Kai took his hand. She looked really concerned. She was pretty cute when she was concerned. The door to Ed's room clattered open. Gaia was standing there, looking out-of-breath.

"Kai," Gaia warned her. "Get out of the room. _Now_."

"No!" Kai shouted. "I won't let you hurt him!" Aaw. How sweet. Gaia drew her gun. Oh shoot. This… was not going well.

"Kai," Ed begged her. "Don't be a hero. Honestly. I'll be fine." Kai didn't move. Gaia pointed the gun at her. "Gaia! Don't shoot her! She's an innocent! You can't shoot an innocent! That would make you…"

"No better than you?" Gaia suggested.

Ed sighed. "Right. Kai. Go home. I promise, this is what I want."

"But Ed—"

"Kai. Walk out of here and leave the hospital," Ed begged. "Don't alert security, don't tell _anyone_. And Kai?"

"Yes?" she asked miserably.

"I—I love you."

Kai, her eyes streaming, murmured it back and ran from the room.

Gaia looked even angrier. "Gaia?"

"What."

"There's something I want… to… tell… you…?" He wasn't saying it outright, sure that at any moment a red dot would appear on her forehead. It didn't. "They… they can't get you in here…"

"Great." She pointed her gun at him, her hands trembling.

"Gaia, wait!" he said, suddenly frantic to tell her everything. She held the gun up for a few more seconds and dropped it.

"What?"

"There's something I need to tell you first."

"I'm… I'm not interested in anything you have to say." Her voice was shaking; she was clearly edgy pointing a gun at him.

"I love you."

"Oh, can it. You think I'm just going to put the gun down and walk away just because you say you love me?'

"No. I fully expect you to kill me. But I had to say it one more time. I love you, Gaia Moore. You don't… you don't know how bad it's been." The words flew out in a rush. "I love you so much and I've been in hell for I don't even know how many days it's been and you don't have to believe me but I have to say it. Gaia, I haven't eaten or slept since last time we kissed. I'm a wreck. He made me do it, Gaia, I never would have hurt you like that but he made me do it."

Gaia looked vaguely curious, but incredulous. "What, someone threatened you?"

"Of course not. Gaia, I never would have betrayed you just because someone threatened me. He was going to kill you. I have this microphone stuck in my tooth and there's nothing I could do to turn it off and I thought you were gonna die, and it really, really sucked."

"So this person told you to shoot me? And you did?" Gaia clarified.

"No, Gaia, if that had been the order, I'd have said screw it all. The order was to miss. Christ, I missed you by about a yard. If I was such a bad shot, why would they have sent _me_ to kill you? The entire point was for you to get the gun away and shoot me with it. He wanted me to have the most horrible death possible."

"And the strangling Sam?"

"Yeah, that was me." She put a hand on her gun. The message was 'you'd better have a good explanation for that…' "Look, Gaia… you can't trust Sam."

Gaia was infuriated. "Is that your stupid little plan? I trusted you, you betrayed me, now I'm not allowed to trust anyone?"

"No, Gaia—"

"Well I have news for you, you can't stop me. I love Sam, and I trust him. I'm happier with him than I ever was with you." Ouch. Could it… could it be true? But even if it was… if it was… it didn't matter, right? It was all fake. But her love, that was real. Misguided, but real. If she really loved Sam more than she'd ever loved… She was still talking. "…and _he_ would never betray me."

Ed laughed without mirth. "He already has, Gaia. He's the one who's been telling me to do all this stuff."

"You're unbelievable."

"Every time I did something he didn't tell me to do, a little red dot would appear on your forehead… he was gonna shoot you, Gaia. Or maybe in the cafeteria it was just some paid moron with a laser pointer and I was too stupid to think of it." Gaia's hand went thoughtfully to her forehead. "Gaia, please. I've said all I need to. Now I'm giving you two choices."

"I hardly think you're in a position to—"

"Either tell me that you still love me… or put me the hell out of my misery."

"What?"

"Gaia, I can't live like this any more. I agreed to short life with you, not a long life with you hating me. Either be mine again or finish what you started."

Gaia looked at him angrily. "You're… you're… I can't trust you!"

"You don't have to trust me, Gaia, not yet… just tell me you love me, tell me you ever loved me, or euthanize me."

"Fine," she said crisply. "I love you… exactly as much as you love me."

Ed smiled. "I'd be a lot more comforted by that if I thought you had any idea what it meant." He took her hand and looked at it. He stroked it and held it in his. "Please tell me."

Gaia sighed and covered her eyes with her hand. "I'll kill you…" His heart sank. "…if you ever make me regret this." Then she leaned over his bed and kissed him. Ed let out a huge sigh of relief. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. He half-expected her to resist, but she didn't.

Suddenly, the door crashed open. Sam was standing there, apparently having run over from wherever he had been, still wearing his backpack.

"He's lying!" Sam shouted.

Ed swore at him and ordered him to leave his room. "How the hell do you know I was lying if you don't have a 'fancy walky-talky'?"

"You have to be lying, or she wouldn't be kissing you."

"Nice save."

"Gaia!" Sam explained, incredulously. "You can't honestly trust him, after all he's done to you! I'm telling you everything he says is a lie."

"How would you—" Ed started to say, but Gaia cut him off.

"He's right. I'm sorry, Ed."

Ed couldn't process what she'd just said. He had really thought she had believed him. But now she walked over to Sam… and kissed him. Ed watched with disbelief. Gaia's hands started to move, exploring… groping. Why was she doing this in front of Ed? He closed his eyes, trying to stop hearing, wishing he had the strength to turn away. An eternity later, or a minute, the kissing stopped.

"Gaia," Ed heard from the distance, "I can…"

"No," she said softly. "You can't." He heard her footsteps coming closer to his bed. "Ed," she said sharply. "Open your eyes."

He did as she commanded. When he opened his eyes, she was holding the laser gun. "No!" he begged. "Gaia, please, believe me, I—"

Gaia's face softened, and she looked at him in a way he had thought she never would again. "I'm not going to shoot you, Ed."

"Then what—"

Her face hardened anew. "I just found _this_ in Sam's backpack. I'm sorry I had to do that, Ed."

Bliss. "It's OK… Mostly."


End file.
